The Election System Wasn’t Built for This

Not so long ago, the Republicans who ran elections in one of the nation’s most important battlegrounds—Maricopa County, Arizona—largely got along. There were egos and quibbles, sure. But in the face of unyielding attacks on elections led by President Trump, the recorder and board of supervisors—which together split election duties—resolved conflicts without blowing up a delicate system built on trust and cooperation. Today’s recorder and board, a mostly new cast chosen by voters in 2024, are different. They’re locked in an all-out war over the machinery, money, and operations that…

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Lawmakers push to overhaul complex reserve duty status system

The Defense Department has long tried to simplify and reform the reserve duty status system, which has expanded to more than 30 separate statutes scattered across about 20 different titles of federal law.  This complex system has created pay and benefits inequities and frequent administrative delays when National Guard members and reservists shift between duty statuses. A new bipartisan bill now seeks to consolidate dozens of duty statuses under which National Guard members and reservists are called to service to just four. If passed, the Duty Status Reform Act would…

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Lawmaker calls for an independent review of cybersecurity in the U.S. courts system

After a high-profile hack, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is calling for an independent review of cybersecurity in the U.S. courts system. In a letter to Chief Justice John Roberts, Wyden said the federal Judiciary has fallen short in protecting its sensitive IT systems. He pointed to a recent intrusion of the courts’ case management system. Hackers reportedly took advantage of vulnerabilities that were brought to light five years ago, after a separate hack of the case management system. Wyden says Roberts should commission a National Academy of Sciences review of…

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DoD-commissioned report seeks to overhaul confusing reserve duty status system

More than 30 different duty statuses under which National Guard members and reservists can be called to service could be consolidated into just four categories, a new Defense Department-commissioned report found.  Unlike active-duty troops who remain in one status, reservists and National Guard members move between multiple duty statuses depending on the type of service they perform. Over time, the system has grown to include more than 30 separate statutes scattered across about 20 different titles of federal law, creating inequities in pay and benefits and frequent administrative delays when…

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What the FAA messaging system debacle said to all federal contractors

Few people heard of the FAA’s NOTAM system until it crashed and brought aviation to a standstill earlier this month. The FAA blamed a contractor for accidentally deleting files, such that the system failed to synchronize. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin next guest says the incident speaks to all contractors about the need to supervise their people. Federal sales and marketing consultant Larry Allen joins me now. Interview transcript: Tom Temin Somebody wasn’t watching the watcher or something broke down here in a procedure, Larry, the files were deleted.…

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